


Lists

by Mendeia



Series: What Beyond (The Temple Steps Alight) [6]
Category: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Humor, Jim Ellison's Glares Are Things Of Beauty, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-18 19:06:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4717130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mendeia/pseuds/Mendeia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or, The Many Glares of Jim Ellison.</p>
<p>Race Bannon gets bored.  When he is bored, he takes notes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lists

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this is so late! It was the first week back at rehearsal and I'm still getting back into the groove of music again. Luckily for me, anyway, this is a nice short one.
> 
> Enjoy!

_Just because I have to be in this meeting does not mean I have to pay attention_ , Race thought with dire annoyance. It was a gathering of the full Sentinel Council to talk about security arrangements with the Department of Homeland Security. On the Sentinel side were Ivanna, Dmitri, Simon, Benton, Race, Blair, and, of course, Jim. On the DHS side was Agent Fritz (though Race privately put Fritz in the Sentinel camp because he was a good, loyal guy like that), the Secretary of the DHS, and the Deputy Secretary of the DHS.

They were holding the meeting at neutral territory, which was to say at a conference room in a hotel with the rest of Major Crimes, a few of the toughest Sentinels from SELF, a host of DHS agents, and the Chancery crew all spread around as an honor guard. Honestly, Race would have preferred to be with them rather than actually enduring this meeting, but he was a full member of the Council and his place was here.

But he had nothing to contribute to the budget argument, so he pulled out a notebook.

_Let's see_ , he thought. _Which ones have I already done_?

He flipped past a few entries and landed on a page titled "Benton Quest's Versions of Fine" followed by a list.

#1 "Fine" as in "All is actually well and I have no concerns." Almost never used.  
#2 "Fine" as in "I don't want to talk about it."  
#3 "Fine" as in "My brain is so full of stuff I literally cannot string together any other words as a response to you at this time." Used often while working.  
#4 "Fine" as in "I can't tell if I'm injured or not, so we'll pretend I'm not."  
#5 "Fine" as in "I am grievously injured and maybe bleeding to death but I can't confirm it and I also have too much to be doing to think about it too hard."  
#6 "Fine" as in "I am _certain_ I am bleeding to death, but I'm busy so please don't worry about me." Used all too many times.  
#7 "Fine" as in "Jonny/Hadji/Jessie have been hurt/kidnapped and I am unharmed and I wish I were in their place instead."  
#8 "Fine" as in "I have an utterly crazy idea and I'm giving it a try now! Whee!"

Race hid a snort and turned the page. He had lists like this for many people – Jonny's different shorthand expressions (such as the infamous "NIFRJI: No input/followup required, just information" that he used when he wanted something without explaining why he wanted it), Jessie's particular ways of laughing, Blair's wide variety of smiles, etc. One of his favorite entries was for Hadji and his seemingly endless quotes and koans and sayings.

"How Hadji Uses His Words of Wisdom" contained:

#1 To convey meaningful and insightful information  
#2 As a means of verbally disarming an opponent (or friend)  
#3 As a conversational dismount to evade further conversation or redirect the topic away from himself or others  
#4 To confuse Jonny  
#5 To confuse me  
#6 To confuse himself?  
#7 To make it appear that he has agreed with whatever was said while actually quietly disagreeing entirely and preparing to take no notice of the difference (see Blair's use of "I hear that" for similar)  
#8 To talk himself or others into or out of something foolish by making it sound wise  
#9 To conceal the fact that he has no idea what is going on

Race nodded to himself and moved to a blank page. Time for a new list. At the top he wrote "The Many Glares of Jim Ellison and Their Meanings:"

#1 Die immediately, preferably in a fire  
#2 Die, but only after I have yelled at you until I'm blue in the face  
#3 I'd kill you if I could but I can't, and you can't stop me from wanting to  
#4 Used only for Sandburg, usually for doing something dangerous  
#5 Used only for Simon, usually for asking Sandburg to do something dangerous  
#6 I believe you are more stupid than my gym bag and I can't believe I have to listen to you prattle or deal with you in any capacity other than putting you in a small, sound-proof box where you belong  
#7 This is unexpected and therefore unpleasant and I demand it stop immediately  
#8 You have had a good idea and it is better than mine and I am not willing to show you any amount of approval because it will just encourage you (usually used on Sandburg)  
#9 I hate technology  
#10 I hate technology and I hate you at the moment for being superior to me with it (used on Sandburg and all members of the Quest family)  
#11 This food/smell/texture is disgusting and I am disgusted  
#12 This food/smell/texture was supposed to be disgusting but I am actually slightly pleased by it and refuse to acknowledge it to you  
#13 Paperwork  
#14 Paperwork when Blair isn't here to do it for me  
#15 Any insinuation that Blair Sandburg does paperwork better than me  
#16 My Guide is pleased with another Sentinel and how dare any other Sentinel impress my Guide  
#17 Your jokes at my expense are not funny  
#18 My jokes at your expense ARE funny and you should laugh  
#19 Someone has not brought me coffee  
#20 Someone has brought me the wrong coffee  
#21 Someone who brought me coffee moved one thing one inch on my desk and I am now peeved  
#22 You have insulted my truck  
#23 You have insulted my truck twice (any instances beyond that move to Glare #3)  
#24 I don't want to talk about it, whatever it is, and I don't care that you do  
#25 I am trapped in a meeting with the DHS and my partner will not stop talking and I do not want him to know I am proud that he commands the attention of everyone in the room with his intelligence

Race also happily drew little approximations of Jim's face beside each entry, adding flames, exclamation points, and horns as needed. He was just finishing up the last one when his phone pinged. He pulled it up to find a message from Jim across the room.

"You missed one. Add 'Race Bannon, I'm a freaking Sentinel and I can see what you're doing from here!' to your list."

Race grinned cheekily and proceeded to do just that, ignoring the increased glaring lobbed his way from the other end of the table except in order to capture it in his little illustrations.


End file.
